How about one more trip down memory lane to our time in Paris? On this day last year we took two very excited little girls to see the Eiffel Tower.  But first, they zipped out in their red berets to get our morning baguette….

And then we made our way to Île de la Cité to visit the Notre Dame and Shakespeare and Company (I had 20 beautiful minutes alone while the gang went to get snacks and then the girls came back for a peek and a purchase…The Little Prince, of course).

Then as we headed towards the Musée d’Orsay, Dimitri pointed out the art and book stalls along the Seine!!  Needless to say I loved the treasures on display and wanted to linger (and Raena showed a little interested), but my man (and my youngest) perhaps did not enjoy this stroll as much as I….

Once we got to the museum we all easily found a painting (or two, or three….) that we loved on the main floor. But what I really wanted to do was go see the Impressionist Wing.  Oh the fast paced zoom to the bathroom past all the masterpieces in this wing was hard to do (but when your kid has to go….).  Noteworthy that even during this focused dash, Raena stopped in awe (and struck a pose) as she came upon the Little Dancer statue by Degas.  Then she was off, spewing facts about the statue that she had learned during our studies earlier in the year and Alex and I were trying to keep up while my eyes tried to take in all the amazing art we passed.  After visiting the loo (of course at the END of the wing) we enjoyed a leisurely trip back through the Impressionist art where no photos were allowed.  May I suggest you just go see it for yourself someday?  I do hope to go back with Maddy someday (she had to leave the museum, poor girl, she got hit with the same flu that Dimitri had when we first got to Paris).

We had planned a quiet afternoon siesta back at the apartment before visiting the Eiffel Tower in time to see the light up.  But as we walked over (Raena did a few cartwheels too) and approached the tower, I found out that Dimitri actually wanted to go up to the top.  That wasn’t on my wish list for this visit, but when he said he wanted to, I said YES (after all, he had let me drag him through museums for days and days!).  It turned out to be a highlight of our visit to the City of Lights.  The lineups was long, but while Dimitri bought the first tickets the girls enjoyed ice cream under the tower and when we were buying tickets at the middle platform the girls kept busy playing “Eye Spy with my Little Eye”.  When we we reached the top it was well worth the wait – the view was breathtaking.  We looked over the city pointing out places we had been; it worked out perfectly that we saved this visit for our last night in Paris.

We had timed if perfectly (by total fluke) and were able to see the light up happen just after we got back down on the ground.  I will never forget the moment when Alex was taking a photo of us with the lit up tower behind us and she stopped, lowered the camera and dropped her jaw and pointed in delight…..the lights had started to flash and sparkle (something we had not expected) and we all turned to share in the surprise!

All that was left to make this a perfect night was for us to find a special dinner.  The girls were “starving” by the time I finished photographing the sparkly tower.  Perhaps that is why they braved the escargot appetizer (which they thought was okay but a bit weird). Oh we had a fantastic meal at a little restaurant with a peek-a-boo view of the sparkling Eiffel Tower and a sweet dog to keep the diners company.

The quiet walk back to the Seine and the Metro and then to our apartment was full of more sparkles…and my girls smiles were shining brighter than any of the city lights!  I will always remember our last night in Paris together…

Bonne Nuit Paris, je t’aime!